[0:00] As a progressive thing.
[0:10] As we go through the Christian life.! So we see that the call, the regeneration, justification, adoption.
[0:43] That's all a work of God, isn't it? By His grace. And sanctification is absolutely a work of God. But it's us working with God.
[0:53] So that we become free from sin and like Christ. It can't be done without God. Absolutely needs to be done in dependence upon Him. Or the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
[1:07] Sanctification is the work of God's free grace. Whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God. And are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
[1:22] And then Grudem in his systematic theology has this wonderful comparison table.
[1:32] Which I think is really, really helpful in setting this up for us. So justification, that's our legal standing. Before God's throne legally, we are declared right in His sight.
[1:47] Sanctification is about our internal condition. Sanctification. Justification once for all time. Can't be changed. Sanctification continuous throughout this life.
[2:02] It's a progressive work. Justification entirely God's work. Sanctification, we cooperate. We walk in step with the Spirit, don't we? Justification, we are viewed as perfect in this life because of Jesus.
[2:17] Sanctification says we're not perfect in this life. There's a bit of a tension there, isn't there? Both are true. Justifications, it's the same in all Christians.
[2:31] Sanctification greater in some than others. Some of us have longer to be growing like the Lord Jesus Christ. I mention adoption again, just because it's so wonderful.
[2:51] So justification, that legal thing. Adoption, that wonderful transformation from having no place in the family, having no rights before God.
[3:04] Now being beloved children of the Father. Jesus is our brother. The Spirit's within us. The deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until when Christ comes.
[3:20] We're part of the family. And I read this wonderful thing this week. Very much going way off the top of sanctification already. That's good. It's a wonderful thing this week about adoption.
[3:34] It's like we were poor orphaned children. Imagine a poor orphaned child without any family, without any home. And then they're adopted by a billionaire.
[3:47] A child who had nothing now enters the mansion. And the billionaire says, see the pool. It's yours. You can swim in it whenever you like. See the lavish food in the fridge.
[3:59] It's yours. You can eat from it. See the table. It's yours. See the money in my bank. You're going to receive some of this as your inheritance because you're now part of the family.
[4:10] But that's quite a change, isn't it? Quite a change to go from poor orphaned child to adopted by a billionaire. And we've had quite the change.
[4:23] We've been transformed in such amazing ways by our God of grace. But also living in that mansion for that child is going to get a lot to get used to.
[4:37] That's going to be a progressive thing. Getting used to the fact, wow, I can just go and swim in the pool. Wow, I've got this lavish food. Wow, I've got an amazing inheritance to come.
[4:49] I thought I'd have nothing in the future. And now I've got everything. And so too for us. We've had quite the change. And it's going to be this progressive work.
[5:01] Getting us fit, ready for the inheritance to come when we live with the Lord. And we're going to pause there and just sing about our adoption.
[5:20] Because it's such a... Sure.
[5:40] Thank you.
[6:10] Is the raving mic on? And that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
[6:28] Thank you. That's certainly a helpful start, isn't it? Yeah, some of us were once, well, all of us were once in that old life that is described there and now we've been washed.
[6:45] It's interesting sanctifieds in the past tense there, as if we have been sanctified and then other scriptures I think would help us see we continue to be sanctified.
[6:59] Can you have the microphone, please? It's also interesting that in contrast to your list, the sanctified comes before justified in the sentence, if it's relevant.
[7:14] That is also interesting. Yeah. Jorame. Thank you. I think it's helpful to think of sanctification not just as something that's progressive, but I think some theologians have talked about a definitive sanctification of being set apart.
[7:33] I think you see it in the beginning of Corinthians where you're kind of set apart, sanctified, past tense. I think John Murray makes much of that. I think that's quite helpful. So it's something that's happened. We've been set apart, but we are being, we're being saved.
[7:47] Yeah. Yeah, both and. Yeah, we have been set apart in Christ made holy.
[7:59] Yeah. Yeah. This side is the wrong side for this person, isn't it? Keep going. We have a follow-up question. I can't hear you.
[8:09] Sorry. Oh, my gosh. We have a follow-up question. So in the description of sanctified as a state, how would you distinguish that from justified?
[8:25] So if sanctification is not just like the ongoing process of being made more holy, how would you differentiate, or are they similar? Like the state of, okay, you've been justified, that's not like, that's a one and done, but also you've been sanctified one and done.
[8:42] How do you separate those two? I think Jerome's going to answer it. I think Jerome's going to answer it. I'm not entirely sure. I'm not entirely sure. I mean, that's a good question. I mean, often you hear it said that justification is something that happens to us.
[8:57] It's a legal, judicial declaration, regardless. It's not an internal work. Sanctification is often spoken of as an internal work. But I wonder if when we are saved and we are set apart, there is something that internal has started.
[9:17] I don't know. Which fits with this, doesn't it? Justifying our legal standing. It's a breach with the sinful lifestyle that started.
[9:29] You are set apart, which becomes progressive, but it is definitive. Can we hear Brenda? I was just going to ask Jerome.
[9:40] Is it connected perhaps to the idea that God who begins a good work in us will bring it to completion? So it's sort of the completion of sanctification is not yet, but it's certain that it will be so, maybe.
[10:01] Possibly. I don't know. Yeah, I think another way of saying definitive sanctification is positional sanctification.
[10:19] So we're taken from one realm into another. When the Bible uses the word sanctification, it doesn't always mean what theologians mean by sanctification. So this is exactly as Daniel has described.
[10:35] That's the theological use of sanctification. Sometimes the word gets used in Scripture to mean something slightly different. And in this case, it means you have changed position.
[10:47] And if you think of it, we have been taken from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the sun he loves. You get the same idea of moving position.
[10:58] And you get the same thing. We stand, the grace in which we now stand is a movement of position. Because sanctified simply means set apart to. So you can think of it set apart to in a positional sense.
[11:11] So I'm unplunked from there and plunked into the place of God's working. And so definitive sanctification, positional sanctification, I think they mean the same thing.
[11:24] But you're describing sanctification in the sense of a progressive work in which our behavior, our attitudes are changed into Christ.
[11:36] I mean, they're all linked up together. But I think there are two slightly different uses of the word of which you say definitive positional. And I think that's what it is in Corinthians.
[11:49] Okay. That's helpful that you've got that Greek knowledge. Well, yeah. Which I probably should have looked up. That's not to say that, I mean, the things that you're saying are absolutely right.
[12:03] So if you link it up with holiness, holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Be holy for I am holy. I think that's in the same group of sort of internal condition, continuous throughout this life.
[12:15] Something that we've got to be active in. And there's never a day when we've reached it and we keep on needing to. I don't know if that answers any of the questions. I think that was very helpful.
[12:28] Yes. I do think 1 John 2 is important. I mean, whether it's actually about the final.
[12:41] Yeah, okay. I'm just going to say something first. Whether it's about. Can you hold the mic a little bit closer? Thank you. Completion or not.
[12:52] I don't know. But it says, my dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous one.
[13:03] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. And not only for ours, but also for the sins of the world. But then he goes on to explain what he's talking about. Because he says, we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commands.
[13:18] Whoever says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar. And the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them.
[13:29] This is how we know that we are in him. And whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. I don't think he's saying there that all Christians, it is completed.
[13:40] Because if he was, he wouldn't be bothering to write the letter. He's saying here that it's by obeying that it's made complete.
[13:53] Well, yes, it's something that is going on. It's the progressive thing. We are progressively trying to, wanting to live like the Lord Jesus did.
[14:09] But at the same time, we're going to fail at it. And so here we go. What do we do when we do? We've got the Lord Jesus Christ, who was our atoning sacrifice for our sins.
[14:25] Yeah, I think it's a helpful, helpful place to turn. It's not one I've considered. Thank you. I mean, in the days of the perfectionist controversies, which again, one of the things around when I was a student, there was a view that 1 John 2 taught perfection because he said it's completed in you.
[14:53] God's love is completed in them. And it was a controversial passage. But I mean, if you look carefully at what it says, he's not saying that they don't sin.
[15:06] He's saying that love is completed in them. Yes. Yes, that's a very different thing from saying the work of sanctification is completed.
[15:20] Yes, absolutely. I said St. Paul, he actually teaches us to strive for perfection.
[15:44] So, you know, running the race, yeah. And so we... As the spirit changes our desires, we want to... So I'm just saying about your sanctification, where it says we're included.
[15:57] I think we definitely are included. Otherwise, we wouldn't be striving, would we? We're justification. We're not included at all. I didn't catch that, but that's okay.
[16:11] I said we're justification. We're not included at all. What do you mean we're not included? In the work of it. No, we're not. Yes, whereas, yeah. In sanctification, we're going along with the Lord.
[16:26] Can we... When will it be completed? What did people think? When Jesus comes back? When Jesus comes back?
[16:37] Yeah. What makes you say that? It was... It was... It was... Was it...
[16:48] What's Thessalonians? I think Thessalonians... Probably all of them. Oh, yeah. I don't know. I didn't get to Revelation.
[17:00] It definitely said in Thessalonians. Yes. It would be helpful to read the Thessalonians one, I think. It was the very end of 1 Thessalonians, isn't it?
[17:23] 23. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. It's a good prayer to pray, isn't it? May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:39] There's something significant about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And us being blameless. And having the revelation one in view, I think, is important.
[17:54] Nothing impure is going to enter the city. And who's going to enter the city of God's people? And so surely by then, that work of sanctification will be complete, as we'll be raised to new bodies.
[18:10] We'll be raised to bodies like the Lord Jesus finally transformed into his image. Yes. Can we, Mike?
[18:20] Does that mean then during the intermediate state, so when we die and go to heaven, and there's that intermediate state where our spirits are not united with our resurrected bodies?
[18:35] Yes. Because my understanding was sin will have been, indwelling sin, but have been dealt with then.
[18:45] Yes. So will there be sanctification? Because that reminds me a little bit of kind of Roman Catholic teaching in terms of there's almost a purgatory where there's a bit of a dealing of sin.
[19:00] But my understanding is once we get to glory, that is it. There's a completion. So I think yes and yes. So I think yes, as we die and our souls go to be with the Lord Jesus, safe with him.
[19:15] Yes, it's complete. But actually, we won't have our new bodies then. And so once our bodies are raised and we get new glorious resurrection bodies, then it will be wonderfully complete because then we'll finally have bodies which aren't sinful bodies.
[19:33] There's incompletion. Yeah. There's not sanctification in terms of dealing with sin. Yeah. I just think it's not completely done until then.
[19:44] Yeah. Yeah. It's done, but it's not complete. Yeah. Yes, I don't want to be accused of being a Roman Catholic theologian. No, I wasn't. I'm just wondering if that could be misinterpreted.
[19:57] Is there some kind of purging of sin in glory? Are we happy to continue? So being sanctified starts with we've become Christians.
[20:21] Sanctification complete in death and Jesus' return, as we've just said. There's this middle stage, which is now, this ongoing process. We're being sanctified now.
[20:32] And that's the thing that we're going to focus on. And hopefully we're on pretty safe ground as we focus on that. I've been pondering this all a little bit over recent weeks and been helped by a few talks that I've been listening to.
[20:54] How do we grow? How does this sanctification process happen? Other than absolutely the Spirit's working in us and we do things. And it could be we end up going away from here with a list of we just need to read our Bibles more.
[21:10] We need to pray more. We need to actively fight sin more. And we do need to do these things, don't we? But is there something more?
[21:22] And is it all dependent on me and what I do? Let me skip past that hymn.
[21:33] John Newton had this advice for someone in a letter. The best advice I can give or the best wish I can form for you is that you have an abiding and experimental sense of those words of the Apostle which are just now on my mind, looking unto Jesus.
[21:55] The duty, the privilege, the safety, the unspeakable happiness of a believer are all comprised in that one sentence, looking unto Jesus.
[22:06] He is the object that melts the soul into love and gratitude. And so based on John Newton's advice about looking unto Jesus, that's a great place to be, isn't it?
[22:24] And as we're thinking of wanting to be changed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be made like him, then surely there is no better one to turn, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[22:40] And to begin thinking about that, I want us to turn to Exodus. That's not where you'd expect me to turn, is it? I guess. Exodus 33, 12 to 23, and then 34, 29 to 35.
[22:59] And maybe could we have a couple of volunteers to read these passages? Maria will read one. So can you read 33, 12 to 23?
[23:11] And then someone for the next one? Valerie. So when Maria's read, if we can pass the microphone over there to Valerie.
[23:24] 23. For the 34, 29 to 35. Thank you. Okay, Exodus 33, verse 12. Moses said to the Lord, you have been telling me, lead these people, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
[23:44] You have said, I know you by name, and you have found favor with me. If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways, so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.
[23:57] Remember that this nation is your people. The Lord replied, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. And then Moses said to him, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
[24:17] How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?
[24:30] And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you, and I know you by name. And then Moses said, now show me your glory.
[24:43] And the Lord said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
[25:00] But he said, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. Then the Lord said, there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.
[25:14] When your glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
[25:25] Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face you must not see. And then over to Valerie.
[25:50] Bring the best of the first fruits of your soil to the house. Is this 34, 29? 34, 29?
[26:01] 29, sorry. That was 26. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.
[26:16] When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them. So Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them.
[26:29] Afterwards, all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face.
[26:40] But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant.
[26:51] Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord. Thank you. It's a wonderful, astonishing passage.
[27:02] But Moses asked, show me your glory. But God says in 33 verse 20, you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.
[27:17] You can't see my glory, Moses. Not safe for you. You'll die. But then there's this sort of way that Moses can be safe.
[27:30] You'll be covered by a rock, and you'll get to see my back. Kind of, almost think of it as the afterglow, if you like, of the Lord's glory. You'll get to see something of my glory.
[27:43] Not much. Something that's going to be safe for you. And then Moses, as in the bit that Valerie read for us, we see that he's just been completely transformed by seeing God's glory.
[27:59] Verse 29, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord's. His face was literally shining. But that meant for the people it was actually quite terrifying.
[28:13] Shining with the glory of the Lord's that Moses had seen. And so he had to live amongst the people for a little while in a way that was safe for them.
[28:29] And so a veil was put over his face when he spoke with the people to keep them safe. So what had happened, a transformation, a change, when he beheld the glory of the Lord.
[28:46] And sanctification is about transformation. It's about change. Because we've beheld the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[29:00] Who we've come to find as our Savior. Can we turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3? 2 Corinthians chapter 3.
[29:19] This is sort of the passage we're landing on for the remainder of our time. And could someone read 12 to 18?
[29:35] Blessing. Great. Microphones by you as well. That's brilliant. Thank you. Therefore, since we have such hope, we are very bold.
[29:45] We are not like Moses, who had put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull. For to this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read.
[29:57] It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
[30:11] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all who have unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
[30:25] Thank you. There's a bit of a tragedy with the glory in Moses' face that Paul tells us about here in verse 12.
[30:38] It's a glory that was passing away. It was just the end of the glory, really, that the Israelites saw. It was very glorious because he saw God's glory.
[30:49] But it was a fading glory. But in verse 18, we read that we, now we've come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, we are being transformed into ever-increasing glory.
[31:09] A glory that is growing. Because the glorious God dwells in us by his Spirit in a way that is safe.
[31:25] As we have come ourselves to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that being changed from glory into glory, as the hymn puts it, when we beheld Christ as our Savior.
[31:43] And it goes on. We are being changed from glory to glory. That's that process, that transformation. That work of sanctification involves God's work changing us as we walk in step with his word.
[32:03] It absolutely means that we need to be actively doing those things that we said. We need to be actively reading the word. We need to be actively praying. We need to be actively fighting sin. Peter, in his apostle, talks about abstaining from sinful desires, literally holding yourself back from.
[32:19] And when I read that, I always think of Pringles. They say, once you pop, you can't stop. You keep taking another Pringle because they're so delicious.
[32:32] And you've got to literally hold your hand back from putting your hand in there and reaching for another one. That's a bit of an illustration of sin, isn't it? It can be like that.
[32:43] But the wonderful thing we're told here is we are being changed. We are being transformed from glory into glory. But how do we do that? Well, it's by looking unto Jesus, as John Newton advised.
[33:00] It's by contemplating him, the NIVs say, he with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory. But I think that's a terribly weak translation.
[33:12] The literal word that Paul uses there is that word in Greek, kator, trize, something like that, to reflect, to behold as in a mirror.
[33:25] So behold, Jesus. Behold, the Lord's glory would be a better way to go, I think, in our NIVs. And how do we behold his glory then?
[33:40] Because we're not seeing the Lord Jesus Christ right in front of us, face to face. But we do behold Jesus. We behold Jesus in his words.
[33:53] We behold Jesus, God come down in the flesh, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, as Wesley wrote. And we behold that Lord Jesus in the word, don't we?
[34:09] In the words, in the gospels, we read of the Lord Jesus, the one who has incredible humility in stepping down to be found as a little baby.
[34:22] Even more than that, we behold his humility in dying death, even death on a cross for us. We read of his incredible obedience to God the Father, to the plan of salvation.
[34:39] We read of his incredible power over nature as he calms the seas and walks on the waters. We read of his incredible compassion as his heart went out to people.
[34:50] We read of his heart towards the outsider, the people the rest of society would shun, the blind man, the person with leprosy. We see his righteous wrath on those who wanted to turn his father's house into a marketplace.
[35:09] We see his wonderful patience with his disciples, don't we? They were incredibly slow to learn, weren't they? We see his love for his friend by the graveside.
[35:21] We see his wise teachings. It's in the word we behold Jesus. But, of course, it's not just in the gospels that we behold the glory of Jesus. We've seen even the last two weeks in 2 Samuel, we are led to the Lord Jesus as we saw with the children this morning.
[35:42] We see him in Genesis as creation is spoken into being and we're reminded Jesus is the word of God. He was with God in the beginning and is God. We see him as we read the flood narrative and think Jesus is like the ark.
[36:00] He's the safe place from judgment. We see him in the sacrificial system because in that system we're led to something even better that came along. The great final sacrifice, Jesus, the Lamb of God.
[36:15] We see him in the Psalms. We see that he is the blessed man of Psalm 1. We see that he is God's anointed son and king in Psalm 2.
[36:26] You can go on. We see him in the prophets who longed for a day when God would come to the people, when he would establish his rule, when he would deal with wickedness.
[36:41] We see him in the book of Acts, which is a book all about what Jesus continues to do. We see him in the New Testament letters, which help us to build more of a theology based on Christ's finished work.
[36:56] They help us to see the application and the implications for living life for Jesus, for being transformed into his image, for this work of sanctification.
[37:07] We see him in the book of Revelation. And we get to the end of it and we cry, come, Lord Jesus, come. Which reminds us we're waiting people.
[37:20] And even as we wait for the Lord Jesus and his coming, that alone is a motivation for us growing in the Christian life, growing in holiness, because surely when he comes, we want to be found as people living for him and his glory.
[37:37] In the word, we behold Jesus. And we all who with unveiled faces contemplate, behold the Lord's glory.
[37:48] We're being transformed into his image, with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. And so there should be something in us that reflects the Lord Jesus Christ.
[38:06] But I don't know about you. That makes me feel a little bit inadequate. It's like when the bright sun shines on my car window and reveals all the dirty streaks and mucks.
[38:20] It's the same, isn't it? When we contemplate the Lord in all his glory, it reveals all those dirty streaks and marks in us. I think that word there that Paul uses in this verse, to reflect, to behold us in a mirror, is helpful.
[38:43] As we see Jesus in the words, in all his radiant glory, he does show up our stains. He shows all that grease on the mirror.
[38:57] God, by his Spirit, is working in us so that that mirror can be cleaned up as we are transformed into the Lord's image with ever increasing glory.
[39:11] It's a work that keeps going on and on and on. If you ever try and clean a window or a mirror, it does kind of feel like it could be a never-ending task to get it perfectly shiny.
[39:24] And it kind of feels like that with us in sanctification, doesn't it? We seem to make some progress, doing well, and then suddenly we go way back, it feels.
[39:36] But how important it is that we keep looking to the Lord Jesus. How important it is we keep beholding him.
[39:49] And as Newton said, that will grow us into love and gratitude. And surely as we grow in love and gratitude for the Lord Jesus Christ, it will help us to be growing in his likeness.
[40:06] Because when we behold the Lord Jesus Christ, surely we cannot not be changed. We must be. Think of the people in the Bible who beheld the Lord's glory.
[40:19] You've seen Moses. He beheld the Lord's glory, and his face shone brightly. It transformed him. Isaiah saw the Lord's glory, and he fell down as though dead. Paul on the road to Damascus, intently persecuting God's people, saw the brilliant light of the glory of the Lord Jesus, and it transformed his life.
[40:40] He went from persecutor to Christian believer. John on the island of Patmos saw the Lord Jesus in all his glory, and he fell down before him. So we absolutely should keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[40:57] We will be changed. We will be transformed as we look upon him. Remember Robert Murray McShane's advice for the Christian life.
[41:10] For every look at yourself, take ten looks at the Lord Jesus Christ. It's easy to look at ourselves in sanctification and bring ourselves down and think, I just need to be doing more.
[41:21] If only I had five more minutes for a quiet time. If only I resisted that sin a bit more, then I'd be okay.
[41:32] Easy to look at ourselves, but Murray McShane says, take ten looks at the Lord Jesus. Absolutely look at yourself. We need to be walking in step with the Spirit, but keep looking to the Lord Jesus even more.
[41:49] We saw the Lord Jesus Christ this time last week, and when we looked at that little passage in Mark of the Lord Jesus with that Gentile woman who really offered her far more than a crumb of mercy in the end, full healing for her daughter.
[42:07] And we see there his huge compassion for the sinner and an outsider as she was. And we think, wow, I'm unworthy of his mercy. But thank you, Jesus, and so in view of God's mercy, I want to offer my life as a living sacrifice to you, holy and pleasing in your sight, as Romans 12 encourages us.
[42:31] One modern writer says this, be astonished at the gracious heart of Jesus, proven in his atoning in the past and his endless intercession in the present.
[42:48] Receive his unutterable love for sinners and sufferers. Stop resisting. Let him draw near to you. gaze upon him.
[43:03] So what I'm suggesting to us this evening in a topic which could be all about what we must do, I'm suggesting to us our salvation.
[43:17] It began with us beholding Jesus as our Savior. And our sanctification will be complete when Jesus Christ, our Savior, appears again in glory and we behold him in you glorious bodies.
[43:32] But the work of God sanctifying us now, which continues on now, surely continues as we continue to behold Jesus.
[43:45] to return to the Pringles, it really is hard to stop putting your hands in and eating. But when we see something better than Pringles, that might just be a motivation to encourage us away from them.
[44:05] And when it comes to growing in holiness, sin has a real interaction to us, doesn't it? It invites us in, it pulls us in. On him put it, I see the lights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.
[44:22] It's like that. It's tempting. But when we see something better, when we see how beautiful and glorious our Savior is, when we see his sheer astonishing mercy, when we realize we stand completely justified before the throne of God above because of him, when we realize we're those adopted children, adopted by the billionaire, adopted by God, because of Jesus, when we look to him and behold him, and we behold something even better than those little sins which attract us, surely Jesus in his glory is so much better.
[45:16] And as we behold him, surely we will grow to be like him. And unlike Moses, whose glory faded, in Christ, we are being changed from glory into glory until that work is complete.
[45:40] We had a little bit of chat before I got into that. Any questions? Any comments before we move to sing a final song?
[45:55] Everything you say is true, but I do think we need to remember that it also tells us, that scripture also tells us to make every effort. It absolutely does. And one way we can make every effort is by turning to the word and beholding the Lord Jesus Christ.
[46:12] I mean, what Peter actually says is for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness and to goodness knowledge and to knowledge self-control and to self-control perseverance and to perseverance godliness and to godliness mutual affection and to mutual affection love.
[46:30] For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there is content to it, there is things that we have to do.
[46:45] What's going to be the big help for us to do it by beholding the one who is completely and perfectly these things? I'm not saying this is the only part of growing, but beholding the Lord Jesus is surely going to be the greatest.
[47:02] I think what I'm saying is not let go and let God, which some people say. No, and I'm not, beholding is an active thing, isn't it? that we do in cooperation with the Spirit.
[47:13] Yeah. But yes, I don't disagree with you, but absolutely. We just don't want to separate these two things out, I think. I just heard to that, that also we are told to train ourselves to be holy.
[47:32] so we can't let go and let God because otherwise he'd say, I'll train you to be holy. We have to train ourselves, so we have to be in touch with ourselves.
[47:46] We have to have the opportunity to grow. And it's a very, like, part of our training is being in the Scripture, isn't it?
[47:57] And to behold Jesus, we have to actively turn to Scripture. We can't just sort of sit and do nothing. We've got to actively turn to the Word to behold the Lord Jesus.
[48:15] Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Spurs us on. You don't have to be frightened of the microphone.
[48:31] Yes. Apologies if it sounded like I was saying let go and let God.
[48:47] I wasn't trying to say that at all. And if that came across, then please, please tell me more. that and maybe could two or three of us just lead us in a prayer for these things and then we'll sing a final hymn.
[49:11] Is that okay? Please do lead us off. Okay. Okay. Okay.